Jean's Journal: Michelangelo and maidens

by Jean Farrell

"Michelangelo made the body of Christ five-eighths of its normal size so that his statue of Christ could be cradled in the arms of his grieving mother."

I read this interesting fact in a booklet put together by Pat Watson. It is about the building of Saint Peter and Paul’s Church, in Athlone. He was writing about Michelangelo’s Pieta, a copy of which is in the church.

As a Catholic, convent-educated girl, I thought I knew all about Jesus Christ. However, I realise that we never heard how tall the man was.

I consulted Google. "While the Bible doesn't specify Jesus's height, scholars and forensic archaeologists suggest he was likely of average height for his time and place, around 5'1" to 5'5."

So how tall was his mother Mary, I asked Google next. "We also know that at that time people were generally shorter than the average human height today. This means that Mary could be anywhere from 4’7 to 5’ tall."

I have done some sums. If Jesus was 5’4, his statue, on the knees of his grieving mother, is only 3’6. Interesting!

Another fascinating fact is that Mary appears much younger than her 33-year-son in this very famous sculpture. Michelangelo himself gave an explanation for this.

He told his biographer, "Do you not know that chaste women stay fresh much more than those who are not chaste? How much more in the case of the Virgin, who had never experienced the least lascivious desire that might change her body?"

Astonishing! Maybe young women should ignore all those anti-ageing creams that cost a fortune. Who needs collagen, retinol, hyaluronic acid, Botox and more, when the answer to young skin lies in having no lascivious desires!

Now that you know these fascinating facts about this magnificent Pieta (sculptured by Michelangelo in 1499) why not go and see it for yourself.

You can do so by travelling to Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, or by going into Saint Peter and Paul's Church, here in Athlone. All the white marble used in the making of it came from Italy, from the same mine Michelangelo used for his Pieta.

To know how the parish could afford this, I'll give you a very brief history of the building of the church.

In 1150, Cluinac Monks arrived here from France and were gifted land on the west side of town, beside the river Shannon.

In 1691, The Battle of Athlone took place. ("Break down the bridge. Six warriors rushed through the storm of shot and the storm of shell".…..that battle). The English army scattered the monks and built their military barracks on the monks’ land.

After the treaty, in 1921, the British army marched out of the barracks for the last time and Sean Mac Eoin led in the new Irish army.

You are all aware of The Dean Crowe Theatre. This building is named after the man who was responsible for building Saints Peter and Paul's Church.

In 1930 he was a mere canon, and a wily one by all accounts. He decided that, as the land had been taken from the Cluiniac monks by the army 250 years previously, the army should now give back a site for a Catholic church on the barracks' ground.

To quote from Pat Watson’s booklet, "It took a lot of negotiation and hard graft, but by 1930 he had the site procured."

As I have already written, Canon Crowe was a wily character. Monsignor Horan (of Knock fame) and himself had a lot in common!

A vast amount of money was required to build the magnificent church he had in mind. Locals were approached first. Athlone man John McCormack, who was a leading tenor in Europe at the time, donated £1,000 for the high altar. Broderick's Bakery gave £500 for The Sacred Heart altar.

Businesses in town and farmers also donated money and produces. Giant sales-of-work were held regularly where everything was raffled for double their value and all proceeds went to the church fund.

Having exhausted local contributions, Canon Crowe next set his sights further afield. He ran a sweepstake for which he sold tickets all over the world, especially in the USA. This sweepstake was deemed to be illegal. Court cases ensued, and threats of imprisonment followed. However, Canon Crowe ignored them all and succeeded in raising the money required.

The green columns are finished in Connemara marble and the beautiful stained glass windows are from The Harry Clarke studio.

With tariffs in the news, I found the following fact, in Pat Watson’s booklet, interesting.

"After Mussolini invaded Abyssinia, the Irish Government imposed a tariff on all imports from Italy. As a result, a large consignment of marble was held up in Dublin Port awaiting the payment of thousands of pounds import duty. As ever, the canon negotiated until the marble was released without any payment."

The mention of tariffs reminds me of what is happening in our world right now, and all of it is frightening. I don't understand how one country can decide to 'take over' another.

This has been going on forever. Britain states that it 'condemns the Russian government's unprovoked and premeditated invasion of Ukraine.' So do we all.

However, bear in mind that, at the beginning of the 1900s, Britain owned one quarter of the whole world, including Ireland. How did they justify the 'unprovoked and premeditated invasions' of so many countries? I don't know the answer.

Maybe, whilst paying a visit to Saints Peter and Paul’s church to see The Pieta, we should say a fervent prayer for peace in our world.

jeanfarrell@live.ie